Kotaku reports that the notorious Westboro Baptist Church (who you may know better as the "God Hates Fags" sign wielding congregation out of Kansas) will be in San Diego next week to protest the "idolatrous worship" taking place at Comic-Con (thanks to Shoutbox user Rodrigo Ybáñez García for the tip!).

The activity will happen on July 22. To get an idea of where this group is coming from you need look no further than comments in its schedule of events section on its web site:

Are you kidding?! If these people would spend even some of the energy that they spend on these comic books, reading the Bible, well no high hopes here. They have turned comic book characters into idols, and worship them they do! Isaiah 2:8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: 9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not. It is time to put away the silly vanities and turn to God like you mean it. The destruction of this nation is imminent - so start calling on Batman and Superman now, see if they can pull you from the mess that you have created with all your silly idolatry.

Commentary Alert: Looking at the sign in the picture above, it is hard to understand what these protestors are talking about. Are nerds like Esau - "hairy, immoral and dumb" as this site translates the twin brothers' long ordeal? Are these protestors heirs as Jacob was? And how can they be heirs when they break the most fundamental rule of the New Testament? Namely "Thou Shalt Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself" (Mark 12:31)?

It might be time for some more Bible study, people. Still, sometimes free speech can be ugly and offensive - that's the price of having those rights. And although I don’t know what God thinks of nerds, I draw the line at dudes dressed like Wonder Woman.

Comments

I always laugh when these guys run around saying things like "And it says in the Bible in plain English" or take quotes from the Bible saying it's the infaliable word of God. Here's why.

The Bible was not originally written in english. Add to that the fact that it was origiannly written thousands of years ago and there is simply no way that the Bible, as it appears in english, is exactly what was orginally written. Furthermore every translator probably had their own biases and viewpoints that influenced things. Even more, sometimes there simply is no such thing as a perfect translation. As an example, when someone is hungry in english they say "I am hungry". This is their present state of being. In spanish one would say "Yo tengo hambre". Literally translated what the person is saying is "I have hunger". It is possible to say "I am hungry" in spanish, it would be "Yo estoy hambre". But if you say that, due to the spanish grammar rules, you would actually be introducing yourself with your name being Hunger. And that's translating two live languages. With the Bible we're talking about translating a dead language.

Now, I'm not trying to say there is no God or that the Bible wasn't, at some point, His/Her/It's word. The problem is, we know man is not infaliable or even honest at times, and after thousands of years of editing, translating and tampering with the Bible, it can hardly be considered the "infaliable word of God".

However if I was thinking in their shoes, they would believe that god himself/herself/itself would be guiding the translators so that it was a perfect infalable translation. And you not being faithful enough to realize that it was translated by god is blasphemous in itself.

FOR SHAME! Now go say 10 rosaries, eat ice cream until you get a brain freeze, and kick a unicorn in the balls for penance. :P

"FOR SHAME! Now go say 10 rosaries, eat ice cream until you get a brain freeze, and kick a unicorn in the balls for penance. :P"

Rosaries and Penance? That's not their thing. Penance is done by catholics, orthodox, and anglicans. Rosaries specifically by catholics. Thanks for associating us with they guys that would sooner picket at our funerals, insult our members, and damn us all to hell with everyone else.

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." -Albert Einstein

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." -Albert Einstein

Sorry, I take back the comment about the penance. I forgot how much they hate priests.

Which is why I also added the the ridiculousness of kicking a unicorn in the balls. In hindsight, I probably should have said to be kicked in the balls in the balls by a unicorn instead... anyways....

They can't just kick out people who have sinned in their congregation because they'd have nobody left. To say that they've never sinned is blasphemy in itself. I'm kind of curious to see how they attone for sins in that church. Would it be the same as any regular babtists church?

They actually have no affiliation with any other Baptist Church. They call them out with everyone else. They claim to be based off of primitive Baptist churches, but those baptists reject them. They also seem to have some calvinist based beliefs ie: unconditional election.

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." -Albert Einstein

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." -Albert Einstein

"The destruction of this nation is imminent - so start calling on Batman and Superman now, see if they can pull you from the mess that you have created with all your silly idolatry."

Sounds to me like pot calling kettle black. The only defference between the bible and a comic book is that they believe Jesus and God are real. And I don't think anyone has been killed in the name of superman. See doesn't feel good does it?

BTW I don't have a problem with religion, everyone is free to believe whatever works for them. I just have a problem with zealots who force their own ideals on everyone else and place blame where it doesn't belong.

Not to call Fred Phelps and his band of psychos "Hypocrites," but I did some research on Sodom and Gomorrah and from what I read, it was not Homosexuality, but rather Greed and Pride that did both cities in. The actual bible quote of Sodom

Ezekiel 16:49-50 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: pride, fulness of bread, and careless ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before Me; therefore I removed them when I saw it.

Hmm, I get the feeling that they're running low on funds. How does this theory come about?

The WBC gets a huge amount of their funding from the lawsuits filed when someone they've antagonized retaliates. Lately, epecially with the aid of anti-WBC groups, their attempts have been largely fruitless. Gays aren't biting at their hand anymore, so they need to get a new group. Cue the term nerdrage. A group that gets enraged to the point of violence for little reason and, unlike a biker gang, isn't likely to destroy them outright. They push a nerd far enough, and they will fight back. As well, if they hit the right target, it's a massive windfall.

As a Christian myself, as well as what many would call a geek or a nerd, it sickens me to see people claim to be Christians while attacking my hobbies.

Word to the wise: These people do not represent the majority view of people of the Christian faith. They're yet another case of a small yet extremely vocal minority. They misrepresent Christians and our faith, serving only to make us objects of ridicule. Meanwhile, the real Christians are sitting at home, minding our own business, playing Team Fortress 2 with our buddies. (Okay, not ALL of us, but you get the idea.)

Why do these people represent the public image of Christianity? Because they're the ones being obnoxious. It's newsworthy. The news doesn't care about the reasonable ones who don't make a huge fuss, because that's not interesting. These people so much as announce a protest and it's national news.

And because of the actions of the self-righteous, more people are driven away from the Christian faith. It's a sad state of affairs, really, and it makes me disgusted to see anyone attempt to drive a wedge between the two groups that I most readily identify myself with.

Here's an idea, go to their protest and have a Dungeons and Dragons and comic book read sit down right in front of them. They want to protest in the name of God, then we can protest in the name of nerds. This isn't the 1950's comic book moral panic scare anymore and I bet they won't expect us to express OUR free speech.
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Veni, vidi, vici, I came, I saw, I conquered.

You know if someone is willing to take the bullet for this they can sue whoever took and ripped the comic for vandalism. It is withing thier legal rights to protest but when they start defacing and destroying private property it's tantamount to vandalism.

Regular new comic book would result in an assualt charge against the person ripping it out of the guy's hand. At least I would think a violent gesture resulting in limited physical contact should be viewed as such.

A Gary Gygax signed 1st edition copy of an Advanced D&D Players handbook gets ripped up? Guraunteed assualt, attempted/murder, battery, arson, vigilante, and other such charges will definitely be thrown against the nerds from the resulting fallout.

I don't even want to think what would happen if they took some mint figures out their boxes and wrappings in front of that crowd.......

After that they would then remove collector's comics from their sleeves, smear dog crap all over them, then pile those and all the figures up, and probably snatch soemone's prop weapon, pile it up, douse it in lighter fluid and burn it, declarign they'll get ahold of everything in there and torch it too.

I read this yesterday on Kotaku. These groups really piss me off and they are starting to make an ass out of themselves. why the hell are they attacking nerd? Attacking nerd is so 1950 to 1970. I find their point just stupid and confusing.

Off topic: Did you know in Florida, a mother wanted manga ban in the library because she claim it made her son different. She even sent him to therapy. The worse part she is paranoid as Jack Thompson. I wonder if that means anime/manga are next to be scapegoated beside video game. I wonder if anime haters on Youtube will make a video saying they'lll side with game-hating politicians because they attack anime/manga for them.

I'd like to see the counter-protests. At this point they are getting desperate.

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Debates are like merry go rounds. Two people take their positions then they go through the same points over and over and over again. Then when it's over they have the same positions they started in.

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Debates are like merry go rounds.
Two people take their positions then they go through the same points over and over and over again. Then when it's over they have the same positions they started in.

I remember the Veteran Bikers surrounding them on their rides at funerals and reving everytime they opened their mouths. I do not care how loud you yell, your NOT being heard over 25 Harleys with their tailpipes blasting in your face.

A friend of mine on LiveJournal posted this months ago about those assclowns protesting at Ronnie James Dio's funeral(and I do agree with the sentiment):

"These sons of bitches need to die. I'm not even kidding. Attempts within the legal system to get them to knock this shit off have all failed, it's time to just start blowing the heads off of dozens of them every time they show up. Maybe then they'll get the message."

Geaux Saints, Geaux Tigers, Geaux Hornets, Jack Thompson can geaux chase a chupacabra. Hell will stay frozen over for quite a while since the Saints won the Super Bowl.

Agreed. As much as they're actually asking to have exactly that done, that's really the only thing that they'll understand. I can only guess the reason why the Federal Government hasn't stepped in or Child Protective Services hasn't tried to take the kids away despite the danger to their mental and physical well-being is because they don't want another Waco on their hands. Like the Branch Davidians, the WBC live on a compound of sorts, and it's easy to imagine them behaving just as they did...with a similar outcome. :(

Throwing insults at nerds, eh? I bet those geeks attending the convention won't know how to act. I mean it isn't like people give nerds a hard time for being nerds in their daily life. This will show the lot of them. [/sarcasm]

When I was at the University of Kansas, Reverend Fred Phelps (of Westboro fame) brought a group of protesters and picketed in front of the student union during the Gay-Bi Awareness week. My room-mate at the time interviewed him for a Political Science class. The best part of the interview went something like this:

Roomie: Can you tell me why are you here protesting the Gay-bi awareness week?

Phelps: In the state of Kansas, sodomy is illegal. By promoting acceptance of homosexuality, the school is promoting an illegal activity. It has nothing to do with liking or disliking gays, it's just about the Law.

Roomie: Ok. So... since over 70% of the student population is under 21 and can't legally drink, does that mean we shouldn't have an Alchohol Awareness week?

I know that the WBC has their right to free speech. But isn't their brand of speech categorized as fighting words (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_words)? and would therefore not be protected under the first amendment?

I don't know much about US constitutional law, that's why I'm asking.

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Morality has always been in decline. As you get older, you notice it. When you were younger, you enjoyed it.

the following is counter-logic for the WBC, and should it offend you, treat it as valid as anything the WBC themselves would say:

the Westboro Baptist Church should read and follow Mark 16:17-18, especially the part about poison. also, in Matthew 19:16-17, Jesus denies himself as "being good". furthermore, in Revelation 22:16, Jesus calls himself the "morning star", which St. Jerome translated, in Isaiah 14:12, the Hebrew word for "morning star" into the Latin term "Lucifer" (light bearer), a name commonly ascribed to Satan by Christians, and represents the fallen star, an ancient symbol for the fallen or evil one. also compare I Chronicles 21:1 and II Samuel 24:1

The god hates people argument is a stupid argument made by ignorent people that hates other for no good reason. Plus if god was really hateful towards mandkind he would not have made us into his own image.

As a Christian, those people make me sick. Despite their claims, they are not christians.

Also, Christians don't have problems with Harry Potter, Fantasy, SCi-fi, and all that stuff. It's the two people who did that has lead everyone to generalize that all Christians do. I for one love Harry Potter, Sci-fi, and fantasy, and so does my pastor.

They should follow the "hate the sin, love the sinner" concept, not the "Hate everything and everyone and condemn them all" idea.

Attention nerds. Your are eligable to join the Association of Guys who get Crap from Westboro. Our members are homosexuals, soldiers, jews, catholics, methodists, presbyterians, lutherans, baptists, orthodox, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, liberals, conservatives, Bill O'Rielly, Heath Ledger fans, Lady Gaga, Lady Gaga fans, Michael Jackson fans, and most if not all nations of the world. Join us as we unite in laughter against them.

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." -Albert Einstein

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." -Albert Einstein

Adding to the list: John Stewart (and his fans), Steven Colbert (and his fans), Al Gore, the Clinton family, Mormons, and all people that could count as "fans" of every person they've ever protested the funeral of.

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." -Albert Einstein

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." -Albert Einstein

Shout box

Infophile: @Matt: Apparently Dan Aykroyd actually is involved. We don't know how yet, though, but he's apparently going to be in the movie in some way.08/02/2015 - 4:17am

Mattsworkname: I still hold that not having the origonal cast invovled in any way hurts this movie, and unless the 4 actresses in the lead roles can some how measure up to the comic timing of the origonal cast, i just don't see it being a success08/02/2015 - 12:46am

Mattsworkname: Mecha: regardless of what you think of it, GB 2 was a finanical success and for it time did well with audiances ,even if it wasnt as popular as the first08/02/2015 - 12:45am

MechaTama31: I think they're better off trying to do something different, than trying to be exactly the same and having every little difference held up as a shortcoming. Uncanny valley.08/01/2015 - 11:57pm

MechaTama31: Having the original cast didn't do much for... that pink-slimed atrocity which we must never speak of.08/01/2015 - 11:56pm

Mattsworkname: Andrew: If the new ghostbusters bombs, I cant help but feel it'll be cause it removed the origonal cast and changed the formula to much08/01/2015 - 8:31pm

Andrew Eisen: Not the best look but that appears to be a PKE meter hanging from McCarthy's belt.08/01/2015 - 7:34pm

Mattsworkname: You know what game is a lot of fun? rocket league. It' s a soccer game thats actually fun to play cause your A Freaking CAR!08/01/2015 - 7:02pm

Mattsworkname: Nomad colossus did a little video about it, showing the world and what can be explored in it's current form. It's worth a look, and he uses text for commentary as not to break the immerison08/01/2015 - 5:49pm

Mattsworkname: I feel some more mobility would have made it more interesting and I feel that a larger more diverse landscape with better graphiscs would help, but as a concept, it interests me08/01/2015 - 5:48pm

Andrew Eisen: Huh. I guess I'll have to check out a Let's Play to get a sense of the game.08/01/2015 - 5:47pm

Mattsworkname: It did, I found the idea of exploring a world at it's end, exploring the abandoned city of a disappeared alien race and the planets various knooks and crannies intriqued me.08/01/2015 - 5:46pm

Andrew Eisen: Did it appeal to you? If so, what did you find appealing?08/01/2015 - 5:43pm

Mattsworkname: Its an interesting concept, but it's not gonna appeal to everyone thats for sure,08/01/2015 - 5:40pm

Andrew Eisen: That sounds horrifically boring. Doesn't sound like an interesting use of its time dilation premise either. 08/01/2015 - 5:36pm

Mattsworkname: an observer , seeing this sorta frozen world and being able to explore without any restriction other then time. no enimes, no threats, just the chance to explore08/01/2015 - 5:34pm

Mattsworkname: Andrew: I meant lifeless planet, Time frame is an exploration game. Your dropped onto a world which is gonna be hit by a metor in 10 seconds, but due to time dilation ,you actually have ten minutes, so you can explore the world, in it's last moments, as08/01/2015 - 5:32pm